1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to wearing apparel and more particularly to an improved patient gown which provides improved comfort, patient restraint and ease of insertion of intravenous tubes and other medical equipment therethrough.
2. Prior Art
Various types of patient gowns have been provided in the past. Most such gowns extend down from the neck to below the knees and have short sleeves. They are donned either by dropping them down through a head opening or by fitting them around the patient and tying the rear portions together with straps, bands or the like. Most such gowns have no integral patient restraining means, such as are needed with patients having certain types of maladies, for example, patients with advanced psychoses and those sufficiently enfeebled, as by Alzheimer's disease and the like, to be unable to care for themselves.
Moreover, when it is necessary for an intravenous tube or the like to be placed in the patient's arm at a level concealed by the gown, the gown must be pushed up out of the way. This can be uncomfortable for the patient and inconvenient for the medical attender and may interfere with the proper use of the intravenous tube.
Certain types of hospital patient gowns have been constructed to address some of the above-described problems. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,622 which discloses a patient gown having full length removeable sleeves which open from the lower end for easier use of intravenous tubes and the like. That gown, however, does not have patient restraining means. U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,186 discloses a short sleeved hospital gown which has an opening in the upper outer margin of each sleeve to facilitate donning the gown and the use of intravenous tubes, but which also is devoid of patient restraining means.
One of the problems not addressed by conventional hospital gowns is the protection of the patient and restraining of the patient against the destructive use of his or her hands, as in picking at the skin, removing intravenous tubes, breathing assisting equipment and the like and in damaging other hospital equipment.
Accordingly, there remains a need for an improved type of patient gown which affords the patient greater wearing comfort and which protects the patient against destructive acts while permitting full access to the patient for blood sampling, intravenous feeding of nutrients, antibiotics and other medications and for the application of other medical procedures to aid the patient.
Such gown should have full patient restraining means integral with the gown so as to be available for instant deployment when needed. Preferably, the gown should be washeable for reuse and/or readily disposeable. Moreover, the gown should be relatively simple and inexpensive to make and replace and should be capable of being used in a variety of modes.